Three vital statistics from General Synod
by Ian Paul, Psephizo:
This week saw the first meeting of the new General Synod following elections last month. It was designed to be a largely uncontroversial first session, not least because around 60% of the members were new—something fairly unprecedented, which resulted in a surprising number of established members not being re-elected. Most of the items of business were either completing the formalities of items already discussed (including next year’s budget for Archbishops’ Council, and the finalisation of the changes to the Vacancy in See process), discussion to catch the new members up to date (Vision and Strategy, Governance Review), or things that were not controversial. You can see both the agenda and all the papers (since Synod conducts its business in the public eye) on the Church of England webpage here.
As a result, and as is often the case, the most interesting session was Questions on Tuesday evening from 5.30 to 7.00. 132 questions had been submitted; as has been the practice for several years, initial answers were published in writing and the Synod time was taken up with asking supplementary questions. Despite this, we only got just over half way through the list; Synod must give more time to this (and control the number of supplementary questions any one member can ask).
I here reflect on three questions that were asked, which potentially offered some illuminating statistics, all of which I was involved with one way or another.
See also:
Queen reminds General Synod of its essential mission, by Archbishop Cranmer
‘Saving the parish’ and church planting must go hand in hand – Archbishop,
by Julian Mann, Christian Today:
The Archbishop of Canterbury has tried to reconcile Anglican ‘save the parish’ traditionalists and ambitious church planters: “To save the parish does not mean to stop church planting. To church plant does not mean abandoning the parish.
The Church of England: A Grand Operatic Death, by David W Virtue, Virtueonline: The Archbishop of York said to Synod: “Our vision and strategy is a vision and strategy for growth. It is not about managing decline gracefully. We want the Church of England to grow and even if it doesn’t — then let our death be a grand operatic death, let it be fantastic and let’s not crawl in a corner.”
Growth plans are not about ‘one way of being Church replacing another’, says Archbishop of York, by Julian Mann, Christian Today
Stephen Cottrell has admitted to the General Synod that his vision for “a mixed ecology” Church has not been “clearly presented” and has “caused nervousness”.
Synod: Archbishop Justin’s remarks on the Church of Ghana, from the Archbishop of Canterbury’s website:
“I continue to pray for and seek to support all those who struggle and suffer in the LGBTQ+ community and all those who suffer also from the ongoing effects of colonialism and imbalances of global power.”
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